Winners of the Third International Earth and Sky Photo Contest on Dark Skies Importance were announced May 9. International projects The World at Night (TWAN) and Global Astronomy Month, along with the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, are the contest organizers. The 2012 contest submission period was during April, the Global Astronomy Month. Submitted photographs were all taken since the beginning of 2011 and were all created in the “TWAN style”—showing both the Earth and the sky—by combining elements of the night sky set in the backdrop of the Earth horizon with a notable location or landmark. This style of photography is called “landscape astrophotography.”

A British musical group named "Zinta & The Zoots" recently gave a most unusual concert at Canterbury College, England. Joining the band for the live performance was an enigmatic musical contributor, whose part was originated some 11,000 years earlier—the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A.

Thanks to radio astronomer Jan van Muijlwijk and his team of astronomers and amateur radio buffs, the historic 83-foot radio telescope at Dwingeloo in Holland was pointed at Cas A, a powerful source of radio-frequency emissions in the constellation Cassiopeia, in order to relay the live signal to the stage in Canterbury during the performance. These electromagnetic waves, on arrival at Earth, were morphed with Zinta’s live vocal using a Vocoder, creating a synthesis of two temporally distinct sound sources, fusing human and cosmic "voices" across time and space.

Special Promotion for GAM
Get Great Software at a Great Price and Support AWB's Global Astronomy Programs
Now Available for Apple AND Android

From now until the end of Global Astronomy Month on April 30 you can get a great price on the very popular SkySafari 3 apps for Apple and Android mobile devices and Mac OS X.

During this special promotion, 30% of proceeds from all SkySafari sales will be donated to Astronomers Without Borders to support Global Astronomy Month and other AWB global programs.

With significant discounts on all three SkySafari 3 app versions - Basic, Plus and Pro - any sky enthusiast with an iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android mobile device or Mac can now get these award-winning apps at a great price - and help build AWB's worldwide astronomy community at the same time.

In a tribute to stargazers around the world, a new multimedia video has been released by Babak Tafreshi for Global Astronomy Month 2012. Featuring amateur astronomers busy around their telescopes as the night sky swirls above them in time-compressed video clips, Tafreshi adds still images and music to engage the viewer in the nighttime world of astronomy.  Combining video taken over over a period of years in farflung locations around the world, Sky Gazers is a joy to watch for experienced stargazers and casual observers alike.

The International Asteroid School Collaboration (IASC) has announced that two schools participating in its special program for Global Astronomy Month (GAM 2012) have discovered previously unknown asteroids. The student discoverers will have the privilege of providing official names for these main belt asteroids, traveling in orbits between Mars and Jupiter, once they have been followed for several years to precisely determine their orbits (orbit diagrams below).

Five students from the Pierre & Marie Curie School in Nicaragua, S. Uthman, A. Othman, Z. Isadriana, R. Andrea, and H. Jimmy, discovered an asteroid that now has the official designation of 2012 FE52. This is the first school from Nicaragua to participate in an IASC program and they wasted no time in making their discovery just two days into the month-long event.

Meanwhile, the same night half a world away, asteroid 2012 FX42  was discovered by students in Beijing, China. The discoverers, K. Wang, H. Yao, W. Sun, and P. Li, are part of the China Hands-On Universe program.

AWB Partners with NASA Night Sky Network / Astronomical Society of the Pacific

During Global Astronomy Month 2012 (GAM 2012), Astronomers Without Borders partners with NASA Night Sky Network/Astronomical Society of the Pacific to promote and facilitate observing programs among more than 350 astronomy clubs across the United States.  The Night Sky Network is a nationwide coalition of amateur astronomy clubs bringing the science, technology, and inspiration of NASA’s missions to the general public.  Its members share their time and telescopes to provide unique astronomy experiences at science museums, observatories, classrooms, and under the real night sky.